Aberdeen FC Women’s co-manager Emma Hunter insists her players will learn quickly as they adapt to life in the top flight of women’s football.
The Hoops, runners-up to Glasgow City last year, were deserved winners – but Hunter believes there are plenty positives her side can take from their committed display.
She said: “I’m very proud of the players as we scored two goals ourselves and stayed in the game until the very last minute, so there’s lots of positives to be found.
“This is a good taste of where we can go and if we can give Celtic and Rangers a hard time we have a chance of doing something in the league this season.
“There was huge lessons to be learned in each half and as a coach all you can hope is to see the players take on information and learn.
“We showed more maturity in the second half and dropped off at times to defend everything in front of us, rather than behind us, and we broke with a bit of intensity.
“We have to think about the exciting times we can create here. At the start of the game we talked about this being a new journey for us.
“We can forget about the last two seasons as we’re into a new story now and there will be harder times and times where we are successful, but it is part of learning and developing.”
Despite dominating for long periods, Celtic’s victory was only secured with a stoppage time penalty, and Hunter believes her side’s ability to adapt to the challenge they faced for the second half augurs well for the team as a whole.
She said: “I felt as if we weren’t ourselves, a little bit in our shells and not talking or playing with their heads held high. It could have been the occasion, but what a fantastic crowd to have. It’s huge for us.
“I said to (co-manager) Gavin Beith, I wanted to push more players up and make it a bit of a show for the people who came out to watch us. It’s important young girls are inspired and local people come out to watch us.
“They exposed us a bit at the end and managed to get a couple of goals as a result.
“It was really challenging. Coming into the game we knew Celtic are a good side. We’ve never faced them in any cup or friendly so we didn’t know what to expect, but they were very physical and very quick.
“We struggled in the first half especially and they were breaking our lines and getting in behind our back four.”
The Dons were without captain Kelly Forrest and last season’s leading goalscorer Bayley Hutchison for the visit of the Hoops and Hunter knows both are key players for her side.
She said: “You can’t underestimate the impact Kelly and Bayley bring to the team. We missed Kelly’s leadership and guidance on the pitch. She’s a real talker and it felt quiet on Sunday, maybe because Kelly wasn’t there.
“Bayley is our top goalscorer and a real threat in the final third. She’s really good at getting in behind players. Hopefully we can get both back available soon.”
